The present invention relates in general to fasteners, and more particularly to systems, devices and methods for releasably securing removable floor mats to the carpeted floors of vehicles.
It has long been a practice to equip automobiles, sport utility vehicles, vans and even trucks with carpeting in the interior. While this creates an aesthetically pleasing interior and also aids soundproofing, it creates a problem in that occupants entering the vehicle from the outside will place their feet on the carpet, subjecting the carpet to soiling and accelerated wear.
To prevent the permanently installed carpeting from getting soiled and prematurely worn, vehicle manufacturers and manufacturers of after-market automotive products have developed floor mats that typically provide impervious barriers to moisture and dirt. These floor mats can be quickly removed, cleaned, replaced, and therefore the interior of the vehicle is preserved in a like-new condition.
The easy removability of conventional floor mats militates against their staying in one place on the carpet surface. To prevent the slipping and sliding of conventional vehicle floor mats on carpeted floors, various affixation devices have been developed. Representative of these is the affixation device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,895 issued to Caldwell et al. The Caldwell et al. device uses a central screw which is screwed into the carpeting pile, and a head which is meant to be received in a respective hole in a rubber floor mat. This conventional device and ones like it have a drawback of seriously and permanently damaging the carpet to which the affixation device has been joined. There is a tendency for this device to pull out of the carpeting when, for example, the floor mat to which it is affixed is suddenly jerked out of the vehicle, as might happen when a cleaning attendant wishes to quickly remove the floor mat. When this happens one is left with a gaping hole in the carpeting. A need therefore persists in the industry for a vehicle floor mat affixation device which (1) may be easily installed and removed by the consumer, (2) is not prone to causing damage to the carpeting if it is forcibly removed, and nonetheless (3) provides substantial resistance to slippage of the mat with respect to the floor.
According to one aspect of the invention the affixation device has a substantially flat noncircular body with a first face and a second face opposed to the first face. The body has a central axis, a margin and a radius of about xc2xd to about 2xc2xd inches that extends from the centeral axis to the margin of the body. The radius defines a moment arm that allows rotation of the device about the axis by a human hand and the margin affords purchase points for fingers of the hand. The shape of the body facilitates manual affixation of the device to the floor of the vehicle without tools.
The affixation device also includes an axially extending connector connected to the first face of the body and a fastener attached to the second face. The axially extending connector is inserted to a preformed hole in the carpeting and vehicle floor and then turned by hand, thereby securing the affixation device to the vehicle floor.
In a second aspect of the invention, the device is part of a system for releasably attaching an object to a floor of a vehicle. A second fastener is affixed to the object which is adapted to be releasably securable to the fastener positioned on the second face of the device.
In an affixation method according to the invention, the device is manually positioned such that the first face of the substantially flat noncircular body is adjacent to an upper surface of the floor of the vehicle. The free end of the axially extending connector faces the upper surface of the floor of the vehicle. The affixation device is pressed toward the upper surface of the floor of the vehicle and manually rotated to secure the device to the floor of the vehicle.